OK. I'm making my way through MS -now I'm up to page 195. I LOVE MIDNIGHT SUN!! I have to pause and make note of some amazing quotes:

Esme to Edward:"Love doesn't always come in convenient packages. You, out of everyone on this planet are perhaps best equipped to deal with such a difficult quandry. You are the best and brightest of us all."

At the restaurant in Port Angeles:"I realized at that moment that I wanted to answer her questions. Not because I owed it to her. Not because I wanted her to trust me. I wanted her to know me."

And this self-revelation made by Edward at the restaurant:(sorry it's long, but it's all important)

"In a sudden moement of perception, hearing the way my voice sounded in this inconsequential human's head (the waitress), I realized why I seemed to be attracting so much admiration tonight- unmarked by the usual fear.

"It was because of Bella. Trying so hard to be safe for her, to be less frightening, to be human, I truly had lost my edge. The other humans saw only beauty now, with my innate horror so carefully under control."

More and more, I'm realizing that the Saga is really about Edward and his struggle about who he is......

SusieI feel like the first quote really let's you see Edward's effect on Esme. We never really get such a specific description of how she feels about the other family members. I think she is actually the one that talks the least in the series as well as the books but is supposed to be the love that holds them all together.

The second quote from port Los Angeles had a really personal impact. Every time, It makes me think of a moment where it seems like somebody doesn't know you and you want to be able to just somehow share every single experience with them. You want to somehow have them run through all of your memories and have them understand what they meant to you and how those memories shaped who you are etc.

And last but not least that last quote sort of just solidifies Bella's impact on an unbeknownst Edward.

I feel that this series really is way more complicated and complex than your average 'young-adult' series and I'm not sure if I could boil it down to Edward and his struggle.... but that would be an amazing feat- 4 1/2 books to really understanding a character lol

MidnightSun wrote:SusieI feel that this series really is way more complicated and complex than your average 'young-adult' series and I'm not sure if I could boil it down to Edward and his struggle.... but that would be an amazing feat- 4 1/2 books to really understanding a character lol

Midnight Sun - Agree. I guess the way I phrased it made it sound exclusive... I think I meant that it isn't all about BELLA. Also, thanks for your input on the quotes. I really enjoyed reading them!!

Ginnie~ I always looked at that first interaction, his outward reactions to her in the cafeteria as habit and part of the charade. He looks away as if bored because that's what he does every time he makes eye contact with one of the humans. It keeps them at an arms lenght, keeps them thinking that all the Cullens think they are better than everyone else. When you look more internally, he continues to be fascinated by her, continuing to listen to Jessica as she dishes the dirt as it were, continues to listen for her thoughts on him and his family, then immediately goes into protective mode as soon as Jessica's thoughts turn snarky. That is how I always interpreted that first few minutes.

And, yes, that's what I meant by making Edward vulnerable. By breaking down all of his carefully constructed physical barriers, obliterating every vestige of control, she makes him vulnerable to the very last thing that he wants to be, what he hates most about himself. But, in breaking down all those barriers, she also opens the door to his heart. While I absolutely believe that Edward would have loved Bella, regardless of if she was his singer, I think the sheer physical attraction he had to her and the reactions he had to have to her because of it certainly hastened and eased the process.

Susie~ Ach, some of my favorites. The second quote, from the restaurant, I absolutely adore. It is, at it's heart, why Edward, IMO, feels so overwhelmingly selfish for being with her. He feels like he is taking so much more from her than he is giving her in return. Him, this man who has been an island unto himself for 8 decades, finally has someone who sees through all his crap and wants to know every part of who he is. How can anything he gives her in return even compare to that?

Esme's quote? A mother's love, pure and simple. I think that quote, more than any other, personifies the effect he has on the entire family. We see how selfless and protective of them he is, how much he tries to always put everyone else ahead of himself. Hell, even Rosealie, even if she won't admit it, knows how truly and purely good of a person he is. Esme just has to say it for her.

Caryn - Yes, that second quote really made me pause when I was reading. He wanted her to know him.

Another great moment is at the restaurant when Bella reminds him that he dazzles women and he desperately hopes that he also has this effect on her. When he gets the courage to ask her this, he is elated by her response, "frequently"."My heart swelled with a hope more intense than I could ever remember having felt before."

Also, there's a bit of comic relief in Chapter 8 -Ghost, when he is stalking her on a sunny day at school. He sees Mike talking to Bella and gets so upset: "I accidentally uprooted the young spruce tree my hand was resting on when he (Mike) pinched a strand of her hair between his fingers.

EDIT: In the car ride back from Port Angleles: Wow. I never thought about how Edward was dreading having Bella know his true identity. It is heartbreaking to read how he feels he will definitely lose Bella once she knows the truth. He is so nervous about it. He wants to keep things the way they are. When she said she had talked to Jacob Black and then Edward remembers Ephraim - he thinks, "She knows the truth." Stark, heart stopping. In Twilight, I thought he had little emotion about her discovering him.

Susie wrote:At the restaurant in Port Angeles:"I realized at that moment that I wanted to answer her questions. Not because I owed it to her. Not because I wanted her to trust me. I wanted her to know me."

Discussion on the above quotes??

Well, that's one of my favorites too. I've had very few serious relationships in my lifetime, but I have been married for 10 years and I do know this... When you really love someone, not just admire or find attractive, but love... You desire to be transparent with them. Yes you want them see you, but also to see through you. But, just because you want someone to know you intimately, doesn't mean that you aren't terrified that they'll run from you if they do.

We see how selfless and protective of them he is, how much he tries to always put everyone else ahead of himself. Hell, even Rosealie, even if she won't admit it, knows how truly and purely good of a person he is.

Reading that comment made me look back at Susie's quote

"It was because of Bella. Trying so hard to be safe for her, to be less frightening, to be human, I truly had lost my edge. The other humans saw only beauty now, with my innate horror so carefully under control."

and rethink what I had previously told her

And last but not least that last quote sort of just solidifies Bella's impact on an unbeknownst Edward.

in a way where yes Bella does seem to bring out the best in him but she wouldn't be able to that if there was no best to bring out...

lol random thoughts

Susie rethinking about all of the above sparked a complete sense of agreement with you. The more I think about it this series definitely seems to take on an intricately intertwined storyline to develop Edward, Bella and their impossible relationship. *Sheesh* Stephenie Meyer is a genious

I have 40 pages left and I want to make them last. I was really surprised by the matchmaking subplot with Angela and Ben - Edward wanting to "give" Angela something for her kindness to Bella....awwwww

Caryn's giggle for the day: When I read the scene where Edward and Em "nudge" Ben into asking Angela out, I was really tired and kind of loopy. I read the whole thing with a picture in my head of Edward and Em in babuskas and singing "Matchmaker" from Fiddler on the Roof. It was, seriously, one of those scenes that I adore simply for its demonstration that Edward was and could be carefree and have a little fun with his brother. I love IntenseEdward. But, I love him more knowing that he can occasionally pull the stick out of his butt and have a little fun.